Schizcago

WARNING: Disturbing content. I don't have any graphic images, but the summary includes eyeball transplants, sexual assault, and drug abuse.

Schizcago is an independent documentary filmed in 2011.  The title is an obvious portmanteau of Schizophrenia and San Francisco,

The film starts with a girl finding a bag of marshmallows in a garbage bag. She goes to a dumpster and puts a stethoscope on the side while prying it open. The girl picks up a magazine open to an article

Given that the credits are light blue and shaking over light backgrounds, I think this movie needs that article.

We cut to Geoff Manheim chopping up pills. Then another girl is getting drugs through an IV. I love when movies introduce all their character in a row with no context, names, or reasons to care.

Two guys are going through the DSM-4 looking for "The Fun Ones." One of them reads the entry on schizophrenia, because that's in the title of the movie.  One starts talking about consumerism reading something by David Graeber

A guy and Sandy, the girl who was on the IV, bike around Chicago with a headset device (?). They throw it to the girl who was eating the marshmallows at the beginning of the movie. Okay.

The guy and Sandy pass by an old man wearing a hot dog shirt. He asks then how to get back to the set of The Happening or The Man Who Couldn't Laugh.

Actually, he says he's a big fan of Sandy's radio show and he is a poet and wants to promote her show. Sandy invites this strange man wearing a hot dog shirt into her studio.

Zack, the hot dog man, goes into the studio. He goes into the fridge and takes a bottle called "Medium Fun" and "Lot of fun" A girl wearing clothes that cover about the minimum surface area possible and still be PG-13 comes in. (Screenshot withheld)

This isn't rated because it is an independent documentary.

The 90% naked girl doesn't care about a strange man wearing a hot-dog shirt in the studio. Everyone in the studio talks about what tests they are doing. So that's what they were talking about it the beginning of the movie.

The lovable main characters go to a bakery and order cupcakes. Geoff Mannings gives the cashier a bill because they are trendsetters and it is good for their business. So the future of marketing is having a bunch of obnoxious teenagers visit your business?

Marshmallow girl (Lexi) goes to Northwestern Medicine for a test and tries snatching some prescription medicine. Lexi got some eyeballs transplanted onto her wrists and now they are going to make her see out of them. We see a lovely POV shot from Lexi looking at a nurse injecting her with the eye nerves. Then this happens:

So, the four floating pictures are supposed to be what the four extra eyes on her arms. It took me until the end of the movie to figure that out.

This is unrelated, but I was in at Northwestern Medicine having a procedure done this morning (as of writing this) and it is strange watching this now.

Geoff is doing a presentation about re-branding Franklin's to corporate sponsor. He is obviously high during the pitch. He talks about being the forefront of consumerism./

The 90% naked girl from before is now sunbathing 95% naked next to her friend, meaning she is topless and just has bikini bottoms on. (Screenshots withheld) Another girl tells her to cover up and the topless girl rants on about how she is brainwashed by the patriarchy, points out two guys without shirts, and claims equality, etc. It started out funny, but then she brings up rape culture and the SJW parody Tumblrs over the edge.

Until I know her name, I'll call her Tumblr girl.

Geoff wakes up Lexi after the test and we see the four bouncing images in a POV shot. Apparently, she has to check in five times a day for a few weeks to get paid.

Geoff bikes home with Lexi on his back. Then Lexi asks if she can bike. He tells her no, because she she just got four extra eyes on her arms and is probably on some sort of drug.

Just kidding, he says sure and gives her a book by Benjamin Franklin. What?

Lexi bikes towards Millennium park seeing blurry pictures of Benjamin Franklin's book and doesn't crash. At Millennium Park, Lexi walks around with the four dancing images and pickpockets people. One guys calls Lexi out for groping his butt, and the police arrest Lexi for sexual assault.

Just kidding, he hits on her. She also lies and says her name is Samantha.

At someones flat, Tumblr girl puts up a dating profile as a "Dominatrix" and lists certain things that I would repeat if people I knew in real life weren't reading this blog.

So, a less exploitative use of dating websites than Undateables

Tumblr girl (Samantha) calls up various studies and lies about her background and demographics, claiming that she is trying to quit smoking and is veteran among other things. She gets called in to an interview and answers some questions. When asked whether she has feelings of hopelessness, Samantha replies "Capitalism only benefits the small minority."

Everyone is at a really tame rave and talking about the various drugs they are on for studies. We get more shots of :Lexi seeing out of her extra eyes. I think the reason I was confused at this point was because they are just googly eyes.

Samantha, now my least favorite character, says you are paid to take drugs and then paid to not talk about drugs.

Lexi and Franklin boy are sitting on a bench and talking. Lexi sees the four floating images and weird noises come out of the right and left audio channels. I thought the DVD was broken because I got this from the obscure DVD shop.

Samantha and Sandy are cuddling when Samantha's phone rings. Sandy picks it up.

Samantha tells Lexi about her "therapy". Sandy comes back and says she accepted Shabbat dinner with Samantha's parent's next week.

Cut to Sandy and Samantha doing all these weird tests. Samantha starts talking about how menstruation isn't shameful.

Lexi finds the guy whom she groped on the street corner preaching about Jesus. They talk while sitting on a wall outside the Civic Opera Building and Lexi compares selling her body for medical experiments to selling labor in the capitalist economy.  Get it? They are on edge of the wall and she is being edgy.

Halfway done....

We go back to the cupcake shop which is now super popular. Was this even a plot thread?

Everyone is rehearsing a play in a building and someone casually sets the set on fire. The we hear fire engines and maybe these characters will get punished for something finally.

No because we cut to Lexi lying down and Geoff enters. Then he vomits and Lexi hooks him up to an IV. Okay.

Geoff calls a random guy under a freeway and talks about this supercomputer that analyzes consumer behavior and turns Franklin's into a church. He also tells the guy that if he leaks it, he will decapitate him.

Samantha says she's going off the deep-end. I think she's past the deep end and a few miles off the pool's property.

Samantha and Sandy are at Shabbat dinner. Sandy makes the sign of the cross (is that supposed to be a joke?) and Samantha throws the plate of brisket to the floor, proclaiming "meat is murder." Then she says it was "just a joke". I officially hate Samantha more than Shaine from The Undateables.

Sandy stole an heirloom from Samantha's parents. They wrestle on the ground and Samantha says "You are so obsessed with property, you are so bourgeois." If they are going for an SJW parody, they hit all the right Marx.

Sandy comes up to Lexi with a bleeding eye. Lexi decides to operate on her eyes on the bathroom floor. Keep in mind that she still can't function with four extra eyes.

I watched the next scene, regretted it, and I'm not going to describe it. Let's just say that Lexi now has three extra eyes instead of four and Sandy now has a bandage over her left eye permanently.

Geoff is chopping up pills. Lexi doesn't understand why Sandy is upset that she operated on her eye while on experimental drugs.

Lexi is now my least favorite character. I hate her more than the girl who threw a plate of brisket on the floor.

Geoff goes to the board meeting and pitches his rebranding called "Franklin's Flux." . It is basically a giant machine. The corporate sponsor like it. Why?

I'm not posting any more  images because this movie is actually painful to watch. A lot of people say that about bad movies in a joking way, but watching this movie made my stomach hurt.

Sandy goes to another test. They don't ask about her eye. The experimenters talk openly about how the subjects are guinea pigs and drug addicts. I'm struggling to find one likable character in this movie.

Franklin guy goes with a corporate sponsor named Brian. Franklin guy wants to open up in "small, desolate urban areas" and bought a small building in a Chicago to relocate the main store.

Samantha comes up to Franklin guy in panic because Sandy left her and she is lost.

Lexi tries to get money for the experiments but she has been missing check-ins and she took one of her eyes off.

Samantha and Sandy make up, despite the whole "I blinded your left eye for life" thing.

Samantha, Sandy, and Lexi sneak into a diner right as some people leave so they can eat the rest of their meal for free. Lexi talks about prostituting herself to make more money. Because this move isn't charming enough already. Also, Samantha says straight people are disgusting.

Lexi and Sandy sneak into the hospital. Lexi uses the extra eyes to fool the eye scanners.

Sex scene is a dumpster because why not? At least they use a condom,

Samantha puts up a request for human eyeball implants on Craigslist. If you want to watch something about eyeball implants, watch the Night Gallery episode "Eyes." It's a fantastic episode with a great twist and I wish I was watching something good now.

They go to a hotel and lock Lexi in the bathroom for some reason. Lexi texts someone "Emergency Hilton Room 217."

Actually, it's room 43, but I haven't done a forced reference to The Shining yet and I want to think about good movies.

Lexi gets out of the bathroom somehow and she starts fighting Sandy. The police knock the door, but not really. It's Geoff.

People start coming into their hotel room. I'm not going to describe the next scene in detail, but it involves eye transplants. Many, many eye transplants.

Sandy climbs up to the to of a radio tower, and gets her broadcast on every billboard screen in Chicago. Then there's an orgy on top of the tower. Nobody learns anything.

The ending credits are Lexi floating through the  Franklin's Flux model.


So, that was Schzicago and I've already made my exception to rule four in that this was a "light" shock film. I can't tell whether this film was trying to say something about drug abuse or trying to throw disturbing scenes together. This is the worst movie I've covered on this blog and the worst movie I've ever seen, excluding MST3K episodes.

I was hoping that this would be about schizophrenia. I don't know how I got that idea. It's not like the title was "SCHIZcago." I wouldn't be reviewing this if I didn't get it from the obscure DVD store.

Riding the Bus With My Sister

Riding the Bus With My Sister is a 2005 TV movie starring Rosie O'Donnel as someone with a developmental disability. It has a 3.8/10 on IMDB.

You can click on the X in the upper right-hand corner of your screen if you want.

I knew about this movie years ago but I have never watched it until now.

Since this is based on a memoir, I'm sure this will be respectful representation of people with developmental disabilities.

Our first problem is the title. It's in Comic Sans. This is going to be a painful one.

The movie starts with a bus driving and a pan over Beth's quirky room. She's quirky. Get used to that.

There is a parallel shot of Beth and Rachel waking up. Beth jumps out of bed and runs to the bathroom, with Rachel stretches and walks slowly to the mirror. Get it? They are comparing the way Beth and Rachel wake up. Because Beth has a developmental disability. And Rachel does not. This movie is clever.

Rachel is working out, while beth goes outside to yell at the mailman, who gazes at her. Beth puts on on a tweety-bird shirt, while Rachel takes off her workout shirt. First we have the mail gaze, now we have the male gaze.

Despite the name of this blog, I'm allowed to make fun of the misogyny in movies too, right?

Beth goes downstairs, while her neighbor yells at her for clomping down the stairs "like a hippopotamus" She gets on the bus, where a man snaps at her for riding on the bus all day on government dole and tells her to do something useful with her life.

subtle

adjective  sub·tle
Simple Definition of subtle
: hard to notice or see : not obvious
: clever and indirect : not showing your real purpose
: having or showing skill at recognizing and understanding things that are not obvious
Source: Merriam-Webster's Learner's Dictionary


Rachel is photographing a scene with a bride, some children, and puppies. The bride is allergic to the puppies and complains that the dress is 98 pounds. Is there any joy in this movie?

Beth gets back on the bus. The woman next to her moves away and a man calls her a retard.

We keep cutting  back and forth between Rachel's day as a photographer and Beth's quest to buy a toilet seat. Rachel is stressed out and Beth is happy. Rachel goes to dinner with her boyfriend and they talk about having a baby and then getting married in a few years. Her boyfriend says he just wants them to enjoy life.Then we cut to Beth dancing. I think we can get the idea without switching back and forth every few minutes.

Beth's...caretaker, I think, tells Beth that her father had a heart-attack and they go on a bus to the hospital. Beth runs screaming through the hospital and starts yelling. A nurse says her father is in a coma. Beth holds her father's hand and screams. Then she sits on a park bench and eats a bagel. Okay.

Bath calls Rachel and tells her that their father is dead. Wouldn't they hospital contact both of them? Cut to the funeral, where everyone throws dirt on the coffin. Rachel holds the dirt in her hand for a few seconds before throwing it in the grave. Beth refuses on the grounds (ha, ha) that you shouldn't throw dirt on people. I haven't seen such a powerful story about challenging religious traditions since I saw a middle-school performance of fiddler on the roof. Cut to a flashback. We know it is a flashback because the colors are faded. Young Beth is eating dirt next to young Rachel. Their mother comes out and tells Rachel that because Beth is different, she has to take care of her forever. End flashback. I can just imagine the writers thinking "This is way too subtle for the average person to understand. Let's put giant neon signs that say 'THE PART IS CLEVER' in the movie"

At the reception, Beth says that she didn't want to throw dirty ground on her father. Rachel, their brother, and Beth's two caretakers talk about what to do with Beth now that her father is dead. One caretaker says Beth doesn't want a job, she just wants to ride the bus. This movie does a lot of things wrong, but wasting time is not one of them. Rachel says that Beth needs a lot of supervision. Cut to a flashback of Young Beth choking and people trying to resuscitate her. Get it? It's a flashback that directly supports the claim that Beth needs supervision. I would be so confused without these scenes.

Beth's brother leaves and Beth and Rachel live together in the same house. Beth says that there's a sale on soda and Rachel asks whether the only reason she wanted to have her move in is so she can help carry soda. This could go Riding the Bus With My Sister or this could go Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?

Rachel is on the couch looking through an old photo album. One of the pictures starts moving, indicating a flashback of  Beth and Rachel having fun.

Rachel comes back with a black car, which Beth dislike. They go grocery shopping, and Beth picks out junk food. While loading groceries, Beth leaves the shopping cart in the middle of the sidewalk. Rachel tells her to move it because someone could get hurt and Beth replies "So? I don't know someone." I guess sociopathy is funny if the person has a quirky developmental disability?

ANOTHER FLASHBACK of their mom yelling at Rachel because Beth started eating paint. I think my first college term papers had less padding than this movie.

Beth and Rachel are riding the bus. 33 minutes and we finally have our title.

I'm only a little over half an hour into the movie.

Beth scares some kids away and she says she can't have kids because her tubes were tied. Then she asks if the bus driver likes marshmallows. Then they start talking about men. I hate this movie.

Beth and Rachel go to talk to office of the caretakers to talk about what to do now that her father is dead. Her cholesterol is high, she hasn't been to a dentist in years, etc.

Flashback to their father running away to their mistress. Okay.

The caretakers ask whether Beth wants to take a class or go to therapy. Beth says no, and her goal is to go to Disneyworld. Rachel snaps at her and asks if she can do something more productive than riding the bus all day. The caretakers says that riding the bus is good for developing Beth's friendships. The caretakers tell Rachel to live with Beth until she can get on her feet, despite Rachel's insistence that she has a demanding career as a professional photographer. Am I supposed to see Rachel as the bad guy? She's the only likable character.

Rachel says she can live away from Beth and send checks, but Beth says she gets money from the government. An old woman comes up and asks Beth how to get somewhere via bus. Beth gives intricate directions on when and where to catch a bus and when to transfer. Gee, I wonder whether this will come back later and make Rachel appreciate her sister.

But we need some more time before that brilliantly planted Chekov's gun fires.  Rachel asks whether Beth wants to go to home, which she doesn't. Then they ride the bus, and Rachel sees how much everyone on the bus likes Beth.

Apparently, Rachel has never told her boyfriend about Beth, which is why she didn't invite him to the funeral. So now nobody in the move is likable. Her boyfriend, Sam, gets angry and walks away.

Another flashback of Beth looking at Rachel as she leaves the schoolbus. Rachel looks embarrassed and their mom scolds Rachel and tells her that Beth will almost be part of their family and she will never place her in a home. I think their mom already watched this movie so she can give the most specifically relevant advice in each flashback.

Rachel goes to a bus station near a park where she knows Beth is. Beth is watching this man named Jesse do martial arts. Rachel asks if she can take same pictures. Romance subplot commence?

Rachel takes a picture of Beth holding a "cookie mountain" Whimsical.

Rachel decides to move in. She said she broke up with her boyfriend so she could be a better sister. Um...

Rachel, Beth and Jesse go to dinner. Beth says the restaurant doesn't like her because she goes in to use to bathroom.

Beth annoys the waitress (and the audience), then goes to the bathroom. Rachel and Jesse flirt. The whole boyfriend sacrifice loses significance when she can just get a new one in the next scene. Beth reminds Jesse not to drink wine because of his medicine.

Now Beth is annoying and tells all the bus drivers that her sister broke up with her boyfriend. She goes to the rest stop for the bus drivers and greets everyone. I get the point. More montages of Rachel and Beth riding the bus.

Two riders complain about Beth riding without a zone one pass and living off the government. The bus driver tells  Beth to take out her zone one pass. Which she does. Okay.

Now Rachel and the bus driver are playing pool. The bus driver explains the nuances of Beth's language and tells Rachel not to expect too much from Beth.

A creepy man drives up and gives Beth a Tweety Bird doll. That's...really creepy and unnecessary. He never comes up again.

Beth and Rachel have a deep philosophical conversation about love in the laundromat that boils down to who looks hot and who acts nice. Flashback to their mother going out to meet a guy.

They go grocery shopping and Beth moves the cart when they are finished. It's like that scene at the beginning of the movie when she didn't move the cart. Character development.

Jesse gets mugged. Okay. They go to the hospital. It's like that scene at the beginning of the movie where they go to see their father die. Except Jesse doesn't die. Character development?

Beth and Rachel get into a fight. Beth says she doesn't want to live with Rachel. Rachel says sometimes she hate Beth because we are about three quarters done with the movie and the two main characters have to say they never want to see each other again so that they can learn a moral at the end.

Rachel apologizes, and then says maybe she should just leave. Which she does. End of movie.

No, we have 15 minutes left. Rachel is talking to the bus driver about how her father leave when they were little and he drank $200 of bourbon a week and smoked five packs of cigarettes a day. Flashback to Rachel meeting their mother's boyfriend, Raymond. I feel like the writers included this scene as if it would reveal the complex motivations behind Rachel's behavior forgetting that this is a 2005 TV movie starring Rosie O'Donell. Also, they see two buses. Symbolism?

Rachel drives by Jesse riding his bike and asks whether he wants some pictures of Beth. Jesse says no, because he doesn't want to think of Beth alone. Why is everyone guilt-tripping Rachel for wanting to continue her career?

Flashback to their father leaving Rachel to take care of Beth. It's kind of subtle, but all of these flashbacks correspond to the situations that characters are currently facing.

The flashback worked, because Rachel comes back to Beth as she is walking down the steps of her house.

Rachel takes Beth to get her hair done and buy a new dress. In the next scene, Beth turns her hair back to the way it used to be and doesn't wear the dress. Rachel says she likes Beth just the way she is. This move is really proud of itself for existing.

Rachel and Beth go to a bus, but Beth says that its the wrong bus. They get on, and it's a surprise birthday for Beth. Didn't see that coming.

Actually I didn't, but I've only been half-paying attention.

Rachel takes some pictures at the party and Beth holds a baby. Then we cut to after the party where Beth is sad because her tubes are tied and she can't have a baby. This was set up in the beginning of the movie and I forgot about it so, at least the movie did something correct.

Flashback...I think to when Beth decided to get her tubes tied. That was necessary. The two sisters tickle each other, distracting from the conversation.

Pop song as Beth, Rachel, Jesse, and the bus driver ride in a car to the beach. This is necessary to contrast the deep emotional previous scene.

Rachel and Beth go back to the caretakers. Beth says her goal is to go to Disneyworld and Rachel is okay with this.

So at the end of the movie, Rachel learns to accept her sister and absolutely nobody else grows or learns anything.

Rachel gets a gallery display of the pictures she took of her sister Beth. This is supposed to be inspirational, but I found it negates the sacrifice of her career the beginning of the movie.

Rachel also learns that she should sacrifice everything, including her career and fiance, to help her sister full-time instead of finding a qualified professional.

What do I think of this movie? It's as good as a movie where Rosie O'Donnell plays a person with a developmental disability can be.

Me Before You Lookback and Initial Reaction

On July 3rd, 2016, The Emory Film called Me Before You the rom-com of the summer. I had two thoughts. My first thought was "Were there any other rom-coms this summer?" My second thought was "I should share my thoughts on Me Before You instead of passive-aggressively referencing it every other post."

I looked up all the other movies released this summer up until July 3rd..

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows - I'm pretty sure that is not a rom-com
Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping- Probably not  a rom-com
The Conjouring 2- I don't think that's a rom com
Now You See Me 2- Thriller
Warcraft- I have a suspicion that this is not a rom-com,
Central Intelligence- Doesn't sound like a rom-com
Finding Dory- Excellent movie, but not a rom-com
Independence Day: Resurgence- Not a rom-com
Free State of Jones- Doubt that's a rom-com
The Shallows-It has a shark so it's not a rom-com
The BFG-Not a rom-com
The Legend of Tarzan-  Unless they took a really strange angle, not a rom-com.
The Purge: Election Year- How is this stupid concept now a trilogy? Also, not a rom-com.
Our Kind of Traitor- Not a rom-com

Yeah, no wonder Me Before You  is the rom-com of the summer.


I saw the hit rom-com of the summer on opening day, about a month ago. I wrote an initial reaction and that inspired me to start this blog. So Me Before You ended up being inspirational after all. This is my June 4th, 2016 initial reaction to Me Before You

Obligatory picture

I saw Me Before You last night. Instead of giving my thoughts on the movie, I'm going to list every moral I learned.

These are objectively the morals that the movie presented and are in no way colored by my preconceived opinion.

Trigger Warnings: Euthanasia, ableism, and bad movies

1. It's okay to hire someone with no medical background to take care of a person with complex medical needs if she is hard-working and looks pretty.

2. The binder of instructions on how to take care of the person with complex medical needs is just a suggestion and can be read at the caretaker's leisure.

3. People in wheelchairs are just like everyone else. Unless they have a neurological disability, in which case you can mock them because neurological disabilities are dumb.

4. You can be paid to cheat on your boyfriend and he's being selfish if he objects as long as the other person is considering euthanasia.

5. If someone is deeply depressed to the point of considering euthanasia, just take him to a Mozart
wind concerto instead of a mental health expert.

6. Asking for a bigger budget is the best way to cure depression.

7. Rainy beaches breed melodrama

8. People with disabilities are incapable of making decisions, unless they are deciding whether to off
themselves, in which case it is immoral to interfere.

9. The housewife who suggests that maybe it's not the best idea to let severely depressed people kill themselves should just get back to cleaning instead of pretended she knows more than medical professionals

10. Struggling to make ends meet? Get a job with a rich family and cheat on your boyfriend with their disabled son who is considering euthanasia. When he goes through with it, he'll leave you his bank account and you can get a new boyfriend.

On a serious note, the movie is actually okay on technical level. I was expecting a train wreck, but I got a competent movie with incompetent handling of the subject matter.

Which was a shame, because I couldn't even MST3K it.

The Man Who Couldn't Laugh

The Man Who Couldn't Laugh is a  1968 Norwegian move that was labeled "rare".  I had to clean the disc several times. I hope I can construe this into being about disability.

The film begins with people watching a movie, but we don't get to see the movie. We are watching this...thing instead. Everyone is laughing except one man, who I assume is the titular man. Who can't laugh.

The man starts screaming, and an usher helps him out. The man goes to a person named Arve Oppsal and asks for a story or joke to check whether he can still laugh. Arve Oppsal tells the following joke:

A man was out fishing when the warden comes after him. The warden came out and the man started running, but the warden caught up and asks "Why are you running? Don't you have a license?" The man replies "Aren't you allowed to run if you have a fishing license?"

I don't think this joke is the best one to tell to check whether someone can laugh. The man starts screaming

The opening credits are over a still of the man but his mouth opens every so often to scream a la Monty Python's Flying Circus,

The man (Sonell) is at a psychiatrist named Karl Riefel. who asks why Sonell can't laugh, Apparently, at 18 months, he had surgery and went under anesthesia, but when he woke up he couldn't laugh. He is middle-aged, why hasn't he sought help before?

Riefel asks Sonell what happens when he tries to laugh. Sonell says it is hard to explain, but it begins in stomach and moves up to his Adams head. The psychiatrist corrects him "Adam's Apple," Is there a really subtle joke there?

Riefel tells him to relax, open his throat. and think of something funny. Sonell chooses Albert Sweitzer playing the organ in jungle.  What am I missing? He asks psychiatrists to start laughter so that can join in.  Sonell tries to laugh, but screams instead. Riefel says they will start talking about his childhood. Enter flashback

Sonell's father gets upset that he plays with a Swedish girl next door. So the moral is "Nationalism kills your sense of humor"? Anyway, I thought the reason he couldn't laugh was the anesthesia

His mother sings about a "little-weak-chested" girl at a hospital, who can't  go home for the Easter.

Karl Riefel suggests going back to childhood home next week. This movie isn't really about disability, but I wan't to finish because it is so strange.

There's a musical number that just repeats "the man who couldn't laugh" Get it? It's the title of the film.

Sonell goes into elevator with a woman. He plays a song on the elevator buttons. What? I guess it was an uplifting song.

Also, he can see the woman naked in the mirror. What?

Sonell translates comic books for a living and dresses up as one with everyone else in a board meeting. This movie is weird.

The boss is upset about the caption on a panel of someone hitting someone else. Sonell gives a detailed analysis of the correct onomatopoeia of the punch, but they do a complex study of the sound by breaking the table with a chair. They conclude that the correct sound is "Crash". That joke is about 75% of the way to being funny.

Sonell is walking in a park when the image freezes. I legitimately thought the DVD player froze, but it is part of the movie. The narrator, who is now able to interact with the characters, suggests that Sonell do something fun to make him laugh. Sonell decides to go to a museum. I know museums always make me laugh. Sonell touches the exhibits in a museum and they start to dance. So that's why you aren't supposed to touch things. This movie is very straight-forward compared to Mysterious Object at Noon.


Sonell goes to a movie theater and watches a war movie with some soldiers. We also learn that it is 1943. Okay.

The movie shows some soldiers and the soldiers in the audience shoot at the screen. When did this turn into 1984?

The museum is opening a new exhibit called "relax and get well" That's convenient. The museum curator panics and faints when he hears that the exhibit is opening tomorrow because it isn't ready yet. Get it? The exhibit is called "relax and get well", but the curator isn't relaxing. Subtle irony is the best irony.

Sonell goes to an exhibit of old  buildings. He goes inside one of them to sleep and opera music plays.

Karl Riefel and his nurse claim that Sonell is late for the visit back to his home. This is why The Man Who Couldn't Laugh is superior to Mysterious Object at Noon- it's somewhat coherent.
Riefel orders an expensive salmon meal on the way so he can watch Sonell eat. Apparently, the Düsseldorf school of thought looks at external behavior to find internal problems. Sonell says he isn't hungry. He isn't very cooperative either.

Sonell has to urinate outside and they make a big deal out of the nurse and psychiatrist sitting awkwardly. Then Riefel gives his nurse grounds to file a sexual harassment in the workplace complaint against him. I mean, he asks her to marry him.

Cut to a movie inside the movie (if you can call this a movie). It's a commentary on "Three days to go" The movie goes over the Norwegian marriage traditions.

For this section of the blog, I'm commentating on a movie that's commentating on another movie. Just want to point that up

The movie inside the movie is about Norwegian marriage traditions, but it also cuts to things like building a road through a mine and different types of flowers. So it's as coherent as its parent movie.

Speaking of the parent movie, we finally get to see his home town and there is a flashback of Sonell and Stina (the Swedish girl who lived across from him) playing together. The footage is sped up with "comedic music". Because that is what makes comedy.

There's a weird scene in which Sonell's father (I think) plays a violin near Sonell and Stina having a picnic. Stina runs her finger around the rim of the glass to produce the humming sound and the glass explodes. She does it to another glass and the sound makes the violin explode. I could spend time analyzing the symbolism but I don't think it is worth it.

In the next flashback, Sonell's father goes into a shack and Sonell and Stina blow it up and start laughing. I'm not a psychiatrist and I already know  Sonell's problem- Sociopathy.

The next flashback is at a barn and sonell talks about one time he and Stina put on a revue about being happy. His audience (presumably family members) just scowl. Then he starts telling jokes. If these are his only jokes, it makes sense that he can't laugh:

Teacher: Was it you or was it you two who fought? Answer Me!
Boy: It was the two of us
Teacher: Are you answering back, too?

(in a railway compartment)
Father: Yes son, we're in Moss soon
Boy: Yes Dad, it smells strange it here
Father: It's because they make paper in Moss
Boy: It must be toilet paper, then.

Sonell elaborates:

During the second joke, one of the audience members takes a  big drink out of a bottle and offers it to the man next to him. That is the first legitimately funny part of the movie.

They do a skit where Sonell comes in to his "wife" and orders her to take the baby out. Sonell's father overhears and shoots the scenery. Well, he was already chewing it. Then he takes away the money Stina has been saving up and donates it to charity.

Sonell decides to go on a train to Moss. he walks down a row of lockers and opens one. Laughter comes out and the main theme song starts again. I guess it's been long enough since the last surreal segment. Sonell crawls through the locker and finds a band with a woman singing about how a clown who can make others laugh but not himself/ . As guest 100,000, Sonell becomes stationmaster for the day and gets swarmed with girls. He pulls his head out of the locker and he still has the stationmasters uniform on. It didn't make sense to me either.

Sonell, as the stationmaster, decides to sexually harass an employee. What a charming movie. I think it's Stina. What? Sonell says: "I was promoted in a locker. The railway nightclub, you know?" This movie is weird.

The real stationmaster opens the door, sees the Sonell and Stina embracing, and closes the door. Okay.

He comes back with a bunch of men to carry Sonell away. Sonell claims that the constitution gives him the right to dress in any way he wants and also that he abides by maritime law and does not consent. He is put into detention  and Reifel bails him out. I'm confused.

.

In the car, the psychiatrist asks whether Sonell is Norwegian. I would have thought that the he would ask that way before now, such as at their first meeting. Reifel says it is a nationalist thing and asks why Norwegians don't laugh. What was the point of doing the complex psychoanalysis of his childhood then?

Karl Reifel tap dances on the streets of Norway and asks people why they don't laugh. Some answers include "because of the war", "things are only funny in the metaphorical sense" and "it's just a prank, bro,"

Karl Reifel hires someone to talk to Sonell about people without humor. The presenter is upset that people don't find things like pulling chairs out from under them before they sit and pretending to push someone off a diving board funny. So sociopathy is comedy now?

The presenter says he has a joke to test people. It starts "A man was taken to court for beating his wife" If this is his test joke, I don't want to hear his others.

In this joke, the wife says that the man would come home drunk and beat his her and their kids. The judge asks why the woman didn't retaliate and the woman replies "I tried to, but then he started beating me up with a bottle." The man says "Don't listen to her, she's punch drunk."

Um, that's slightly more funny than the other jokes in this movie but I question the subject matter.


Sonell starts screaming instead of laughing the scene cuts to him and Stina walking at night. Stina wants a glass of water from her apartment, but only women are allowed in. This movie is going down the list of things-that-are-considered-funny-but-really-aren't  and "Dressing in drag" is next on the list.

At the apartment, it's hot date night. Hot date night includes reading introductory foreign language books. What? Sonell asks what the Spanish word for "I love you" is and Stina says "It's not under 'at the hotel' or 'at the post office,'" There's a hint of a punchline in there, maybe.

Now Stina begins tickling Sonell. Really? Nobody has thought to do this before. It doesn't work because he just screams.

Sonell goes to a comedian and lies down like it's a psychiatrist. That's pretty funny.

Sonell and Stina watch a movie. Stina is sobbing and Sonell is stony-faced. So he can't feel any emotion? They buy hot dogs and at first Stina is too sad about the film to eat but then she wants one. Then she spends a few minutes lamenting the fate of the person cooking the hot dogs. Okay.

Stina is talking about the movie as if it were:

Pick your Reference

The Notebook

Titanic

Me Before You


Stina looks at the hot dog man walking home alone and says she is sad that he is lonely. She asks Sonell to talk to the hot dog man, but Sonell says he can't talk to a stranger. Stina keeps talking about how lonely the hot dog man is to a creepy degree.

Stina says something about how Sonell doesn't laugh because he "just looks at others" and I think that is supposed to be a big reveal but the plot it too incoherent to have reveals.

Karl Riefel goes on TV and says that most Norwegians can't laugh. Gee, I thought that was the    Insert Nationality Here   . Why has nobody figured this out by now?

Riefel organizes a "Just Laugh" Week. At the university, a poet opens with a line that rivals "I have a dream", or "Friends, Romans, Countrymen, lend me your ears,"

There's a clown playing a saxophone. That is a thing that happens in this movie.

Nobody laughs.

Karl Reifel wears a clown nose, spits out waters, and does many other things to make people laugh. Here's a tip: try doing something funny

Oh, now we have the moral:

Whatever that means.

There is a chorus of scream-laughing, presumably from the speech.

They walk off together and the movie acts as if there was a projector glitch and the picture cuts out. That's also pretty funny.

Sonnel comes onto the front of the screen and tells us to go because the movie is over and not to keep people waiting. Then he walks off.

He comes back on and tells us not to drag things out and to leave the theater. He turns off the light, and then yells at the technician. Two minutes of song and movie over.

This movie is about disability because, um, because it's about a man who can't laugh?

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